2014

The Commission has published a Directive Proposal replacing the existing Sector Directive (2004/17/EC). The aim of the new Directive is to remove legal uncertainty in public procurement between contracting authorities and their cooperation. Moreover, access for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to the procurement procedure is to be made easier. In future, public procurement is to be used for societal and environmental policy targets.

2014

The Commission wishes to enhance trust in electronic transactions in the internal market. To this end, it proposes a Regulation designed to extend the provisions of the existing Electronic Signature Directive (1999/93/EC) and to complement electronic identification and additional trust services.

2014

The Commission presents its ideas on how to safeguard adequate, safe and sustainable pensions in the Member States. The Commission sees urgent need for action in pay-as-you-go pension schemes – which are mainly public – of Member States in order to address demographic change. With regard to funded schemes the Commission mainly calls for an EU-wide regulation and supervision.

2014

The EU legal framework for promoting the use of renewable energies will expire in 2020. The European Commission now presents considerations - which are open-ended as regards their outcome – if and how the use of renewable energies should be encouraged beyond 2020. It will draw up guidelines to facilitate the cross-border trade with renewable energy and, if necessary, for an adjustment of the funding policies of Member States.

2014

In lack of EU rules on the application of national road infrastructure charges levied on light private vehicles, Member States are free to introduce national vignette and toll systems. The Commission wishes to clarify by means of guidelines how Member States could shape their vignette systems for light private vehicles to be in line with EU law. It calls, in particular, for the introduction of short-term vignettes to prevent the discrimination against drivers from other Member States.

2014

The Commission wishes to improve the pharmacovigilance rules of 2010 by amending the pharmacovigilance system. New transparency and information obligations for authorisation holders are to be introduced. The initiation of the urgent union procedure is to be automatised and the list of drugs for additional surveillance is to be extended.

2014

The Green Paper serves for the Commission as a basis for discussion. It wishes to find out what exactly shadow banking entities are, which activities they exercise and which benefits and risks are related to them as well as what a future regulation of shadow banking could look like.

2014

If a motor vehicle is already registered in a Member State, e.g. cross-border workers or car-rental companies are obliged to register it again in the Member State in which the motor vehicle is used. Now, the Commission proposes to determine the Member State in which a motor vehicle must be registered, to shorten the re-registration procedures and to simplify the data exchange between national registration authorities.

2014

The Commission has published a Directive Proposal which is to replace the existing Procurement Directive (2004/18/EC). The Commission’s proposal aims to eliminate legal uncertainty in the procurement between public entities and their cooperation. Moreover, it is to facilitate access to public procurement for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). Public procurement will continue to be used in support of societal and environmental goals.

2014

South-Europe’s creditworthiness keeps eroding as demonstrated by the latest assessment of the cepDefault Index. Italy’s erosion consolidated in 2011; as regards Greece, the negative trend did not only continue but declined even further; Spain is somewhat crumbling but – apart from the banking crisis – not doing too badly.

In Portugal, however, the vigorous structural reforms now bear fruit – an upward trend is soon to emerge. It is very likely that Portugal will regain its full creditworthiness in 2015.

All other South-European countries need to improve their competitiveness through structural reforms too.